Poll: Christmas Spending Stayed Under $200

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‘Twas the season to … watch your spending. The yuletide spirit may have been in the air this holiday season, but shoppers were cautious about how they doled out the dollars according to a recent BlackEnterprise.com poll.

Of those surveyed, 43% revealed that they planned to spend under $200 on Christmas gifts this year. Twenty-three percent thought they’d spend between $200 and $400, 16% planned to spend between $400 and $700, and 9% revealed that they planned to spend between $700 and $1,000. A few shoppers tipped the scale at 8% revealing that they planned to spend $1,000 or more.

Apparently, these shoppers helped buoy a troubled economy as consumer spending rose about 4% this holiday season compared to last year, according to SpendingPulse, a service from MasterCard Advisors that tracks sales activity in the MasterCard payment network, along with survey-based estimates from other payment forms. These results were tallied from November 1 to December 24. SpendingPulse also found that online sales were the biggest gainer, increasing 15.5% year-over-year. Retailers and retail trade organizations are still tallying up total revenue for the holiday season, which ended December 29. The National Retail Federation’s report on the 2009 holiday spending season will be released January 14.

The results are in:

How much do you plan to spend on Christmas gifts this year?
— $199 or less 43%
— $200 to $399 23%
— $400 to $699 16%
— $700 to $999 9%
— $1,000 and up 8%